A visual artist who worked on Disney’s expensive ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ was paid way below the industry standard, he claimed.
The new sequel of the sci-fi epic is all the buzz at the moment with the raving reviews from the initial audience, mostly because of the breathtaking visuals, CGI work, and impressive VFX in addition to the emotional story ride. However, one of the artists from the visual effects team of the mega-budgeted ‘Avatar 2’ has called out the makers for paying low wages to the crew.
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While the total budget of the project is said to be around $350-400 million, a major chunk is reportedly spent on the visual effects by the New-Zealand based Weta Workshop.
I worked on Avatar 2. I’m proud of that.
I am not proud of how little Weta Workshop pays its artists. As a concept artist I was paid the current minimum wage. A pay cut of $10/h from when I was a lead on animated cartoon shows.
Many of the practical artists were paid similarly. https://t.co/zI1CBYjtSv— Logan Preshaw (@wickedinsignia) December 6, 2022
In his recent post on the micro-blogging site, Logan Preshaw, one of the employees of WW, called out the VFX partner over minimum salary despite the hefty chunk spent on the visual extravaganza.
In response to a BTS snippet posted by director David Sandberg, Preshaw noted, “I worked on Avatar 2. I’m proud of that. I am not proud of how little Weta Workshop pays its artists.”
He added, “As a concept artist I was paid the current minimum wage. A pay cut of $10/h from when I was a lead on animated cartoon shows. Many of the practical artists were paid similarly.”
“If you have the money for this prop, you have the money to pay your artists adequately,” he bashed in the following tweet.
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“Many of the artists were earning a little over the tour shop staff’s pay. Well below industry standard.”
The artist further clarified that his statement is purely for the VFX studio and not for director James Cameron or the production company.
Also read: ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ hailed as ‘visually breathtaking’
About ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’, the sequel, set over a decade after the events in the first film, sees the return of Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana to reprise their characters of Jake Sully and his Na’vi partner Neytiri respectively, while, the Academy Award winner Kate Winslet essays Ronal.
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James Cameron has helmed the direction and also co-written the film with Josh Friedman and co-produced alongside Jon Landau, Peter M. Tobyansen, David Valdes and Brigitte Yorke.
The film premiered in the UK earlier this week and is set to hit the domestic Box Office on December 16.
